Selling estimating software

[electricblue]

Can you resell an estimating program? I thought I saw some in a classified somewhere a while back. I'd like to dump turbobid. It doesn't seem well built for commercial.

 

[zbang]

Generally most software license agreements don't allow you to sell your license to anyone. That said, if you give them all the materials and license codes and they use it, the only way the maker will know is if they call for support. Sometimes, you can change the name on a license, though.

 

[GoldDigger]

Generally most software license agreements don't allow you to sell your license to anyone. That said, if you give them all the materials and license codes and they use it, the only way the maker will know is if they call for support. Sometimes, you can change the name on a license, though.

The common license arrangements are moving in both directions at the same time.
Some provide for transfer to a new owner as long as all media, printed documentation, backup copies, etc. are transferred at the same time.
Others, like the latest Microsoft Office, provide that as the owner you cannot even move the software to a new computer if the one you first installed it on breaks. Or even if you replace enough parts on the original computer that the activation code does not recognize it anymore. (They are trying to move everybody to the online version instead.)

 

[steve66]

A lot of companies are moving to subscription based software - you buy it for a year or so, and if you don't renew, you loose access to the program.

A lot like the antivirus programs.

 

[MichaelKelley]

Yes, you can sell the software, if you have rights from the developers to do so, many developers provide the full authority with reselling option after charging some extra amount. Before, buying something like you need to be sure.

 

[zbang]

Others, like the latest Microsoft Office, provide that as the owner you cannot even move the software to a new computer if the one you first installed it on breaks. Or even if you replace enough parts on the original computer that the activation code does not recognize it anymore.

This is why many people are moving to other office suites, like LibreOffice or OpenOffice. I've been using LO for a couple of years, and OO before that. Much preferred to MS-office, especially 2007/2010 and their "enhanced" user interface.

(See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_office_suites)

 

[Fulthrotl]

This is why many people are moving to other office suites, like LibreOffice or OpenOffice. I've been using LO for a couple of years, and OO before that. Much preferred to MS-office, especially 2007/2010 and their "enhanced" user interface.

please don't use anything other than crude 4 letter
words in describing the "new improved" excel interface. :rant:

and excel for the mac... :rant::rant:

 

[JDBrown]

This is why many people are moving to other office suites, like LibreOffice or OpenOffice. I've been using LO for a couple of years, and OO before that. Much preferred to MS-office, especially 2007/2010 and their "enhanced" user interface.

please don't use anything other than crude 4 letter
words in describing the "new improved" excel interface. :rant:

Wow, looks like I'm in the minority on this one. I hated the new Excel (and Word) "ribbon" interface when it came out in Office '07, but after being forced to use it for a few years... I kinda prefer it to the old menu setup. I like Word '10 better than '07. Although I still hate the ribbon in AutoCAD, so ...

I hadn't heard anything about MS Office going to online-only or subscription-only, though. That would be enough to make me jump ship. Unless what's being talked about is MS's "anti-piracy" whatsit that validates your computer over the internet when you install the program. I've run into issues with that before, when upgrading a computer or after a HD crash. All I did was call the support phone number and get a new code to type in. They never hassled me about it or anything. But perhaps things have changed in the last 4 or 5 years.

I've used OpenOffice and LibreOffice, and they're both very good, especially when you consider they're free. And speaking of free, I wouldn't actually have MS Office at all if not for a well-timed student discount that allowed me to get Office 2010 for $15 just as I was finishing my Master's.

To the OP: I don't know anything about Turbo Bid, but I use Means CostWorks from time to time, and you can't even open the program without a current subscription. If Turbo Bid is anything like that, you can bet you won't be able to re-sell it.

 

[kwired]

I use Open Office. The price is right. If something doesn't work right it is a little hard to complain when considering what I paid:happyyes:

 

[GoldDigger]

I use Open Office. The price is right. If something doesn't work right it is a little hard to complain when considering what I paid:happyyes:

How do you find the community based support for OO in comparison to the wide range (from good to useless) of tech support for commercial office software?

 

[kwired]

How do you find the community based support for OO in comparison to the wide range (from good to useless) of tech support for commercial office software?

I don't really use it all that often, when I do it is mostly just the word processing component. Never tried contacting any support people.

 

[zbang]

How do you find the community based support for OO in comparison to the wide range (from good to useless) of tech support for commercial office software?

(taking of LO, not OO) I find it from almost as good much better. There aren't the books that people have written about MS products, but the web-based resources have almost always hit the mark, and if need be, I can read the source code..... (FWIW, I've found that the community-based support for autocad is far better, in general, than any available for ms-office and similar.)

For the most part, I'd call it a wash. Never tried calling MS for office support, and some (many?) of the solutions online have involved reinstalling, and to me, that doesn't fix a problem, just makes it go away for the time.